Former Access Bank Chairman Joins Lafarge Africa Board

By Dipo Olowookere

A former Chairman of Access Bank Plc, Mr Gbenga Oyebode, has been appointed to the board of Lafarge Africa as an independent non-executive director.

Mr Oyebode was appointed to the position along with two others; Mr Olivier Guitton, who joins the board as a non-executive director, and Mr Lolu Alade-Akinyemi, who is now the Finance Director.

A statement issued by Lafarge Africa disclosed that all the appointments became effective April 8, 2020.

In the same statement, Lafarge Africa announced the retirement of Mr Christof Hassig and Mr Rossen Papazov as non-executive directors from the board with effect from April 7, 2020.

Chairman of the cement firm, Mr Bolaji Balogun, thanked “Christof Hassig and Rossen Papazov for their service and contributions to the board over the last two years and wish them well in the future.

On the new appointments, he said, “I am delighted to welcome Gbenga Oyebode, Olivier Guitton and Lolu Alade-Akinyemi to the board of Lafarge Africa.

“I consider them strong additions with rich and diverse experience and we look forward to working with them on the Board and wish them a successful tenure.”

Mr Oyebode, a lawyer with over 35 years of experiencein corporate and commercial practice, was the Chairman of Access Bank from 2005 to 2015. He was also a Director at MTN Nigeria Plc from 2001 to 2019 and Chairman of Okomu Oil Palm Company Plc. He now serves on the boards of Nestle Nigeria Plc and Socfinaf S.A (listed on the Luxemburg Stock Exchange). He is the Chairman of CFAO Nigeria Plc.

Mr Oyebode, who is the founder and Chairman of Aluko & Oyebode (one of the largest integrated law firms in Nigeria), sits on the Africa Advisory Committee of the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE). He is the Chairman of Teach for Nigeria, Director Teach for All, New York, member of the Global Advisory Council of the Africa Leadership Academy, Johannesburg.

On his part, Mr Olivier Guitton holds a Bachelor of Business Administration, EDHEC Business School, French Institdes techniques de Marches (ITM) with over 22 years work experience in the transportation industry.

He is currently the Head of Finance, Middle East & Africa at Lafargeholcim. He has held various positions within the Bombardier Group as VP, Finance, Asia, Bombardier Transportation, Singapore, VP, Finance Shared Service, Bombardier Transportation, France, Head of Finance, South Europe, Director, Cash Management, Bombardier Capital, France, General Manager and Division Controller, Europe. He was also the Group Deputy CFO & Group Controller Louis Dreyfus Company, France.

For Mr Lolu Alade-Akinyemi, he is a certified accountant with 20 years of experience leading and transforming Finance & Supply Chain teams in complex, multinational companies in the United Kingdom, Ghana and Nigeria.

He holds a Master’s degree in Business Administration from the Edinburgh Business School, Scotland, UK and is currently the Chief Financial Officer and Supply Chain Director of Lafarge Africa Plc.

Prior joining Lafarge in 2014, he was Finance Director, PZ Cussons Nigeria Plc, Head of Business Operations & Development Strategy, New Business and Head of Supply Chain & Operations, Coca-Cola Bottling Company, Accra-Ghana, Finance Manager (Group Office), Coca-Cola Europe, Eurasia & Middle East Group, London, Finance Manager (Africa Group), Coca-Cola Africa, Windsor, UK and Assistant Budget & Planning Manager at Coca-Cola Nigeria Limited.